Central to any abortion stance is the way an individual defines the personhood (or lack thereof) of the unborn. The pro-life position is based upon the assumption that the unborn is indeed a person, and therefore has rights independent of the mother. To terminate a pregnancy is to end a valid, thriving, and innocent life. The pro-choice position is based upon the assumption that the unborn is not a person (at least not until some subjective point in its gestation). Therefore to terminate a pregnancy is not ending the life of another human being, and therefore can be seen simply as a health-decision of the pregnant mother.

Is this question ("Is the unborn a person?" or "When does the unborn become a person?”) something that can only be answered subjectively and emotionally by either side? Does one start with their abortion position and then try to answer this question as a way of supporting it? Or is there objectivity to this question? Here are two links to pursue this idea further. The first is a recent article that speaks into this question from a scientific perspective. The second is an article showing past scientific consensus on this question, and includes an engaging visualization of life in the womb from a scientist at Yale University.